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Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s duo of Jago Geerts and Maxime Renaux made it a perfect end to an exceptional season for Yamaha and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team, celebrating the 18th and final round of the FIM MX2 World Championship from the top-two steps of the podium. Geerts triumphed the MX2 Grand Prix of Citta di Mantova with a 1-2 scorecard and successfully defended his ‘world number two’ ranking. At the same time, the newly crowned World Champion, Renaux, ended a successful world title campaign with a race win, which paired with the 20-points scored for third position in race one was enough for the Frenchman to collect his 14th piece of podium silverware. Thanks to the efforts of Renaux, Geerts and teammate, Thibault Benistant, who did not attend the final two rounds due to a knee injury sustained before the penultimate round, Yamaha has retained the MX2 Manufacturers’ World Championship gold plate.
Returning to Mantova after winning the penultimate round at the same venue three days ago, Geerts arrived beaming with confidence. The first race got underway with the ‘93’ powering his YZ250FM around turn-one in second position before quickly ramping up the pace and taking the lead on lap two. From there, the Belgian ensured he was the quickest on track by posting the fastest lap time and eventually ran away for a convincing race win – his fifth of the season.
After securing the MX2 world title at the 16th round of the series in Pietramurata, Renaux felt relaxed as he weaved his way forward from a 10th place start to finish third in race one.
The final race of the season was a thrilling showdown between the Yamaha stars Renaux and Geerts. The duo swapped second position a couple of times on the opening lap until Geerts made a small mistake and handed Renaux an early advantage.
On lap three, Renaux blitzed around the outside of Mattia Guadagnini to take the lead, with Geerts following suit a lap later. From there, the pair pushed the pace, posting lap times more than 1.5 seconds quicker than any other rider on track.
In the end, Geerts was a formidable challenger but was unable to get close enough to make a move on ‘The Champ’ after crashing twice.
Renaux held his composure for the entire 18 lap race duration to seal the deal on a 10th race win, while Geerts had enough of a buffer to finish strong in second position.
This season, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team has celebrated 221 laps led, 42 top-three finishes, 17 race wins, 23 podiums, and nine Grand Prix victories between its three riders. Yamaha riders Antonio Cairoli, Andrew McFarlane and Alessio Chiodi locked out the top-three positions in the MX2 World Championship back in 2005, but the riders were not all on the same team. Therefore, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team has also made history as the first Yamaha team to secure the gold and silver medals in MX2 in the same season.
Jago Geerts
MX2 Grand Prix of Citta di Mantova Winner, 47-points
2021 MX2 World Championship Runner-Up
“I’m really happy. The last two rounds here were really good. Even in the last race, I was chasing Maxime and made a small crash, but then I came back. I wanted to make a move on the last lap and crashed again, but my speed was really good, and second overall in the championship was the goal when we came here after a tough season, so I am very happy that we could achieve that. I hope we can continue like this in 2022.”
Maxime Renaux
2nd MX2 Grand Prix of Citta di Mantova Winner, 45-points
2021 MX2 World Champion
“I am happy to finish the season with a race win and second overall. It was a nice end to a really nice season, really consistent and even after grabbing the title, I was able to show my place and show that I am still here to win. It was really nice, and I am very grateful for everyone around me. I want to say thanks to my team and to Yamaha for giving me everything and the best opportunity to fight for the title, which is what we did. It was a perfect season!”
Photo Credit – Yamaha Racing
